MV ''Caedmon'' was an

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

'C' class

ro-ro Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or usin ...

vehicle and passenger ferry. She operated for ten years on the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route before transferring to

Wightlink Wightlink is a ferry company operating routes across The Solent between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in the south of England. It operates car ferries between Lymington and Yarmouth, and Portsmouth and Fishbourne and a fast passenger-only ...

's route from

Lymington Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to which there is a car ferry service operated by Wightlink. It is within the ...

Yarmouth Yarmouth may refer to: Places Canada *Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia **Yarmouth, Nova Scotia **Municipality of the District of Yarmouth **Yarmouth (provincial electoral district) **Yarmouth (electoral district) * Yarmouth Township, Ontario *New ...

. After 37 years of service, she was broken up in 2010.

History

MV ''Caedmon'' was built in 1973 for

Sealink Sealink was a ferry company based in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Isle of Man, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight and Ireland. Ports served by the company included: Dover, Folkesto ...

by Robb Caledon Shipbuilders Ltd in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The ship was named 'Caedmon' after the Anglo-Saxon poet

Cædmon Cædmon (; ''fl. c.'' 657 – 684) is the earliest English poet whose name is known. A Northumbrian cowherd who cared for the animals at the double monastery of Streonæshalch (now known as Whitby Abbey) during the abbacy of St. Hilda, he wa ...

. ''Caedmon'' served on the

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Fishbourne Fishbourne may refer to: Places * Fishbourne, Isle of Wight, a village * Fishbourne, West Sussex, a village ** Fishbourne (UK electoral ward) * Fishbourne Roman Palace, an archaeological site in West Sussex People * William Fishbourn (1677–17 ...

route for her first ten years. For several weeks in 1979, she operated as a single-ended vessel after her prow was washed away during a storm. When the ''Saint''-class ships were put into service in 1983, ''Caedmon'' joined her sister ships, and , on the

route. All three passed to

after the privatisation of

in 1984. In 2008–09, on the introduction of three new Wight class ferries on the Lymington to Yarmouth route, the three 'C' class ships were withdrawn from service. They were sold for scrapping and initially laid up at

Marchwood Marchwood is a village and civil parish located in Hampshire, England, United Kingdom. It lies between Totton and Hythe on the western shore of Southampton Water and directly east of the New Forest. The population of the village in the 201 ...

, before being towed to

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport town and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban population of 71,698 (1 January 2022)

, in Denmark. ''Cenred'', ''Caedmon'' and then ''Cenwulf'' were dismantled at Smedegaarden in May 2010.
/ref>

Layout

The car deck had a ramp fore and aft, allowing full

operation. The under car deck passenger accommodation cabins on all three boats, was not used for the last 20 years. Twin 6-cylinder turbocharged Mirrlees Blackstone engines mounted at 45 degrees across each engine room drove Voith Schneider cycloidal propellers. Unlike the earlier pioneer C-class ship Cuthred, the main engines were not additionally loaded by a generator, so larger Voith Schneider units were fitted and there was considerably more propulsive power. Electrical supply was provided by two 6-cylinder Dorman/English electric gensets. Fuel consumption was approximately per hour. Image:Sealink MV Caedmon at Yarmouth.jpg, MV ''Caedmon'' at Yarmouth whilst operated by Sealink

Footnotes

External links

Wightlink

Image gallery prior to breaking
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caedmon Ferries of England Ferry transport on the Isle of Wight 1973 ships